Kombi Life

And now for something totally different : I'd like to talk to you about Ben, whom I've been following on his YouTube channel (and his website "Kombi Life") for several years now : he drove all the way through south america, then North, all the way up to Alaska with his Chili-bought Combi!

As one can expect, this wasn't an easy task, as he had to disassemble the combi's engine no less than 10 times!
But all this while keeping smiling, meeting hundreds of people, and enjoying fantastic landscapes!

So, in short : if you're cold during winter, go check his videos, it will for sure warm you up! And to help him keeping exploring, make sure you subscribe to his YouTube channel!

Magnifying the universe

Good bye, shuttle.

A few days ago, the orbiter Atlantis took off. That's the 135th, and very last, mission for the american space shuttles..Chris Bray was on the site of the launch of the first shuttle in 1981 (Columbia), and again for the last one ; hence this picture, took 30 years apart...

That's the end of an era, which takes its origins in the Cold War. Remains the feeling that with the disparition of this tool, the future of Man in space seems farther than ever.
What will we dream about after ISS is closed in 2020?...

Speaking of which, here's a pic I kept since Januray.
Shot by Thierry Legault (go check his website, unbelievable pics/vids!), who calculated than during the last solar eclipse, the sun, the moon and ISS would be aligned... for 0.86 seconds. And that would only be observale from the Sultanate of Oman. I reckon that guy didn't ditch the Math class.
So, he went there, and actually got the picture (click on it to see it full res) : bottom left is the Moon, 400.000km from us ; ISS orbiting at 500km ; and the Sun in the background, at 150 millions km.
Just for fun, the black dot bottom right is a solar eruption... the size of the Earth.

Uncle Sham Needs You!

(sorry for the crappy wordplay, I couldn't help...)

Ok, I don't have high hopes, but I give it a try anyway : I have a big garage/parking issue.

I only have a small garage/box in the basement of a building, and I'm too old to play hide'n'seek with the other co-owners who prohibit me from doing mechanics' work ; additionally, the hosting of the Albatross was only temporary, it has to move by the end of may. Consequently, all my project are "on hold", which is seriously ruining my nerves.
So, priority N°1 now is to find a place were I could finally work at ease!

Im looking for a garage/workshop/warehouse/shed, something like 30 to 40 sqm with electricity (or even just a plot of land for the Albatross), to store my toys, and more importantly work on them. And obviously, the whole thing has to bee affordable, I'm no Rothschild ; yeah, I know, such a place on the Riviera, I'm day-dreaming, but I need to give it a try, unless I'll have to drop everything...

In conclusion, if you, my dearest reader, have the mere hint/tips/advice/knowledge about a place that would match my expectation, for rent or for sale, within a 20km radius of Antibes... Please, tell me asap! You'll have my eternal gratitude in return! And a picture of you on ShamWerks! Thanks!

Edit 24-03-2011 :
OK, I've found a solution... Far from perfect, but anyway : I've found a garage for rent like 5 minutes walking from my place, it'll allow me to store the Albatross or the Karmann, depending on needs. Meanwhile, I'll renovate my current garage, which I've been working in for 15 years, trying to make it more "livable".
Again, the solution isn't ideal, but it will buy me some time to organize. I have to face the ugly truth : prices are so high in the area, having a proper workshop isn't conceivable... I'll probably end up leaving the region for that same reason.
Anyway, that means you should expect some "workshop enhancement" posts real soon!